Firbolg are a variety of giantkin, though all known living members of their species can also be qualified as fey to a certain degree. Originally, they appeared to similar to humans, albeit standing around three meters high, and were typically well-muscled. They were created by their giant masters to serve as mage-warriors, and as such are almost universally proficient in magic. Many depictions of non-feytouched Firbolgs also showed males sporting large bushy beards, and marked with tattoos across their bodies.
Today, the only known population of Firbolgs on Halann live in the deep forests of Yyl Möitsä. Outside of Halann, they can also be found within the Feyrealm; however, it is difficult to determine their numbers there, or if they even constitute a meaningfully different culture from their terrestrial brethren.
Varieties[]
Stormsurge[]
Stormsurge Firbolg are suspected to have been the primary mage-warriors of the ancient Storm Giants. Excavations and texts recovered from places such as Gerudia, the Dragon Coast, and Lencenor suggest that this strain of Giantkin served as sailors and soldiers for their Storm Giant masters. Little is known about these enigmatic giantkin, as they seemingly vanished with their masters. Still, on occasion ancient coastal barrows are excavated containing treasuries full of bronze weapons and armor, covering skeletons far too large to be human.
Wylderwood[]
Wylderwood Firbolg were created either as a magically-potent replacement for, or addition to, Trolls in the armies of the ancient Fire Giants of the Forbidden Plains. After an ancient war between the Fire and Frost Giant civilizations, the displaced fey of the Yyl Möitsä forest approached the Firbolg (along with a sympathetic Stone Giant) with a bargain: defect to the protection of the fey, and earn their freedom. Their mutiny succeeded in driving the Fire Giants from the forests, but a retaliatory war ended with the local World Tree being felled. The Wylderwoods' close ties with the fey granted them peerless Druidic power, but also endowed them with all the other quirks of becoming feytouched, such as lengthening their ears and making them blue-skinned. After the collapse of Fire Giant civilization, the Wylderwood enjoyed a brief golden age ruling over Yyl Möitsä, before tearing themselves apart in a series of brutal civil wars. In the time since, Wylderwood Firbolgs have forsworn the hierarchies that led to their collapse, preferring instead to live with nature in small tribes or isolated individuals. To the Kukatodic humans that share the forests with them, they are simply seen as reclusive, but friendly, neighbours.